Chapter 10 - EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS
Eleanor did not call security.
That frightened David more than if she had.
She descended the cellar stairs slowly.
Liam moved away from her.
Eleanor noticed.
“So he told you.”
Liam stared.
“Am I from Halcyon?”
“You are my son.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
She looked irritated.
“You sound like him.”
David held up the notebook.
“E.R.B. transferred alive.”
Eleanor’s expression did not move.
Emily was not there.
David had made sure of it.
He no longer wanted her within a mile of Eleanor.
“Where is my child?”
Eleanor poured wine from a bottle on the cellar table.
“You should stop calling it your child.”
David’s restraint almost broke.
“Where?”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“Then tell me.”
“The pregnancy was unstable.”
“The fetus had a heartbeat.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
Eleanor took a drink.
“I corrected a problem.”
Liam whispered, “Jesus Christ.”
Eleanor turned on him.
“Don’t become sentimental now.”
“You took his baby?”
“I protected this family.”
“From a baby?”
“From Emily.”
David stepped closer.
Eleanor looked at him.
“Thomas wrote Halcyon’s succession clause because he didn’t trust me. Your first biological child would trigger an independent audit.”
“So you removed my child.”
“I delayed the audit.”
“Where is he?”
“Or she.”
Emily had never known.
Neither had David.
The photograph showed a boy.
But Eleanor’s choice of words made him doubt everything.
“Where?”
“Sign Halcyon over.”
“No.”
“Then stop asking.”
David held up the notebook.
“This is evidence.”
“Of accounting.”
“Of kidnapping.”
“Can you prove what those initials mean?”
“I can prove enough.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Then why haven’t you called the police?”
Because David still needed the child.
Because Eleanor knew it.
Because every move was a trap.
He placed the notebook inside his jacket.
“I’m taking this.”
“Of course.”
Too easy.
David stopped.
Eleanor smiled wider.
He pulled the notebook out.
Looked at it.
Then understood.
“This is fake.”
Liam stared.
“What?”
Eleanor applauded slowly.
“One point for David.”
She had planted it.
Every document inside could be challenged.
Manipulated.
Used to discredit their case.
David dropped it onto the table.
“Where’s the real ledger?”
Eleanor’s smile vanished.
That was the first mistake she made.
David saw it.
“So there is one.”
She walked toward him.
“You have no idea what you’re touching.”
“I know enough.”
“No.”
Her voice became low.
“You think Halcyon is a criminal organization.”
“Isn’t it?”
“It is a shield.”
“For who?”
“For families whose names keep governments running.”
David almost laughed.
“Now you sound insane.”
“Presidents have walked through Blackwood doors. Senators owe their careers to families whose secrets live inside Halcyon. Judges. Generals. CEOs. Foreign ministers.”
Liam stared at her.
“You’re serious.”
“Painfully.”
David asked, “And the eighty million?”
“Insurance.”
“Against what?”
“Against you.”
There it was.
The truth beneath the truth.
Eleanor had realized David was searching.
The midnight transfer would fund an escape network, legal defenses, destroyed records, paid witnesses.
Maybe more.
David checked the time.
11:18 p.m.
Forty-two minutes.
He looked at Liam.
“Do you still have access to the trust authentication?”
Liam frowned.
“Some.”
“Come with me.”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“If you stop that transfer, people will die.”
David turned.
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a fact.”
“Whose lives?”
She did not answer.
David and Liam left.
From the car, David called Marcus.
“Freeze every Halcyon transfer.”
“I can’t. You’re not recognized as controller yet.”
“I’m chairman of Blackwood Holdings.”
“Different structure.”
“What do we need?”
“Emergency court order.”
“How long?”
“Tomorrow, maybe.”
“The transfer happens in forty minutes.”
Silence.
Then Liam said, “I can stop it.”
David looked at him.
“How?”
“Mom made me secondary approver.”
“Why?”
Liam gave a hollow laugh.
“Because she thought I was stupid.”
He opened a secure banking application.
The transfer required two approvals.
Eleanor had signed.
Liam’s authorization was pending.
He selected reject.
The screen changed.
TRANSFER BLOCKED.
For ten seconds, nothing happened.
Then Liam’s phone rang.
Eleanor.
He declined.
It rang again.
Declined.
Again.
Liam powered it off.
David stared at his brother.
“Welcome to the family.”
Liam laughed despite everything.
Then David’s phone rang.
Emily.
He answered immediately.
“David.”
Something was wrong.
Her voice sounded weak.
“Where are you?”
“At the apartment.”
“With security?”
No answer.
“Emily?”
“I think someone’s inside.”
David stood from the car.
“Lock yourself in the bedroom.”
“I tried.”
“What do you mean?”
“The door…”
A crash.
May you like
Emily screamed.
The call disconnected.
